Social Communications | Author | Educator | Coach

LeBron James Uses Social Media To Shine Online

I could write about the social media content of some athletes all day. LeBron James is one of them. His updates are authentic, engaging, and embody the characteristics of ‘valuable content’ I share at every opportunity.

He keeps his massive audience engaged by creating and sharing posts that are entertaining, inspiring, motivating and educational. He gets it.

James’ content is quite a powerful weapon, which he chooses to wield for social media good, hoping to make a positive impact across the online world.

His Instagram posts are going out to 17.3 million followers, and are then shared among other content to his 22.3 million Facebook page fans. That’s quite a reach and potential impact.

And yes, there are Instagram updates that are more focussed on him, but the overwhelming majority of his posts are sharing lessons, and messages about others. He leverages his platforms and channels to showcase his values and character.

This is not a new thing for ‘King James’, however over the last week or two there have been multiple fantastic Instagram updates that sum-up his near flawless use of the platform. His updates revolve around people special to his life, those that have helped him along his journey, motivated, educated and inspired him… He’s not ashamed to say ‘thank-you’, or shine a spotlight on others to lift them up.

Below are just some of his most recent updates. They range from showing appreciation, support and thanks to friends, teammates and opponents, to more personal, heartfelt, family posts, that all add to the story of his life, and those that he cares for.

Fellow athletes, or anyone interested in building a strong personal brand based on values and character, let LeBron’s Instagram account be your guide: https://www.instagram.com/kingjames/

If you’re thinking that you don’t have an audience to share to, start now, before your audience and community grows, and trust that it will.

Regardless, the size of your current (or even future) audience makes no difference: impacting just one person to reach new heights through your content is doable, and powerful.

‘But, I’m not LeBron James.’ No, there’s only one. But you are unique, you are talented, and have something to offer. Athletes often overlook the things they do and achieve that seem ‘routine’ to them, but are incredibly inspiring and helpful for others to see.

Every person has the opportunity to use social media in a similar way to LeBron James. Share your character, your values, things that you want to be known for. Make it about more than just you and ‘Shine Online’.

Ryan’s book ‘Social Media Scouting Report: Helping Athletes To Shine Online’ is available this week. Learn more about it here: